Today in history

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 19, the 323rd day of 2019. There are 42 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight:

On Nov. 19, 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean made the second manned landing on the moon.

On this date:

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.

In 1915, labor activist Joe Hill was executed by firing squad in Utah for the murders of Salt Lake City grocer John Morrison and his son, Arling.

In 1919, the Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 55 in favor, 39 against, short of the two-thirds majority needed for ratification.

In 1942, during World War II, Russian forces launched their winter offensive against the Germans along the Don front.

In 1959, Ford Motor Co. announced it was halting production of the unpopular Edsel.

In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel.

In 1984, some 500 people died in a firestorm set off by a series of explosions at a petroleum storage plant on the edge of Mexico City.

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began their summit in Geneva.

In 1995, Polish President Lech Walesa was defeated in his bid for re-election.

In 1997, Iowa seamstress Bobbi McCaughey gave birth to the world’s first set of surviving septuplets, four boys and three girls.

In 2006, British authorities said they were investigating the apparent poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent who had been critical of the Russian government (Litvinenko died in London four days later of polonium poisoning).

In 2017, Charles Manson, the hippie cult leader behind the gruesome murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others in Los Angeles in 1969, died in a California hospital at the age of 83 after nearly a half-century in prison.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama wrapped up his weeklong Asia trip in South Korea, where he said the United States had begun talking with allies about fresh punishment against Iran for defying efforts to halt its nuclear weapons pursuits. President Hamid Karzai pledged to get tough on corruption and strengthen security in Afghanistan as he started a second five-year term. Artist Jeanne-Claude, who helped create various “wrapping” projects with her husband Christo, died in New York at age 74.

Five years ago: Defying Congress, President Barack Obama ordered sweeping changes in U.S. immigration policy possibly affecting as many as 5 million living illegally in the country. Film and theater director Mike Nichols, 83, died in New York.

One year ago: A federal judge in San Francisco temporarily barred the Trump administration from refusing asylum to immigrants who cross the southern border illegally. Nissan said the company’s chairman, Carlos Ghosn, had been arrested for allegedly underreporting his income and misusing company funds. The Trump administration dropped its effort to bar CNN reporter Jim Acosta from the White House, but said he could have his credentials pulled again if he didn’t follow guidelines governing the behavior of journalists. For the first time in NFL history, each team scored more than 50 points as the Los Angeles Rams outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs, 54-51; the game featured 14 touchdowns, included three by defensive players.

Today’s Birthdays: Talk show host Larry King is 86. Former General Electric chief executive Jack Welch is 84. Talk show host Dick Cavett is 83. Broadcasting and sports mogul Ted Turner is 81. Former Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is 80. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson is 78. Fashion designer Calvin Klein is 77. Sportscaster Ahmad Rashad is 70. Actor Robert Beltran is 66. Actress Kathleen Quinlan is 65. Actress Glynnis O’Connor is 64. Broadcast journalist Ann Curry is 63. Former NASA astronaut Eileen Collins is 63. Actress Allison Janney is 60. Rock musician Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) is 59. Actress Meg Ryan is 58. Actress-director Jodie Foster is 57. Actress Terry Farrell is 56. TV chef Rocco DiSpirito is 53. Actor Jason Scott Lee is 53. Olympic gold medal runner Gail Devers is 53. Actress Erika Alexander is 50. Rock musician Travis McNabb is 50. Singer Tony Rich is 48. Actress Sandrine Holt is 47. Country singer Jason Albert (Heartland) is 46. Country singer Billy Currington is 46. Dancer-choreographer Savion Glover is 46. Country musician Chad Jeffers is 44. Rhythm-and-blues singer Tamika Scott (Xscape) is 44. Rhythm-and-blues singer Lil’ Mo is 42. Olympic gold medal gymnast Kerri Strug is 42. Actor Reid Scott is 42. Movie director Barry Jenkins (Film: “Moonlight”) is 40. Actress Katherine Kelly is 40. Neo-soul musician Browan Lollar (St. Paul & the Broken Bones) is 37. Actor Adam Driver is 36. Country singer Cam is 35. Actress Samantha Futerman is 32. NHL forward Patrick Kane is 31. Rapper Tyga is 30.

Thought for today: “You can always tell gifted and highly intelligent people as they always turn to the past. Any young person who knows anything that happened before 1980, or 1990, or 2000 for that matter, is immediately someone who is intelligent, probably creative, maybe a writer. Nobody who is drawn to the past and learning about the past is not gifted.” — Mike Nichols (film director, born in 1931, died on this date in 2014)